Ventilator for engines of small boats

ABSTRACT

This invention consists of an inverted L-shaped flexible tube having its upper and horizontally disposed end suitably secured to the flame arrestor on the carburetor of the internal combustion engine in a boat. The lower and vertically disposed end of the aforesaid flexible tube being clamped to structure having a tubular screen suitably secured on the top of a flotation ring that is located in the bilge of the aforesaid boat.

United States Patent [191 Ebbighausen 451 Mar. 12, 1974 VENTILATOR FOR ENGINES OF SMALL BOATS [76] Inventor: Henry M. Ebbighausen, 397

Piermont Rd., Cresskill, NJ. 07626 [22] Filed: Feb. 18, 1972 [21] Appl. N0.: 227,453

[52] US. Cl. 114/211, 114/183 [51] Int. Cl. B63b 13/00 [58] Field of Search [14/211,212, 16 D, 16 R, 114/183; 9/1; 123/198 E; 98/64, 37, 43;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,877,701 3/1959 Whitaker 98/43 ll/l969 8/1945 Lokker 9/1 McDermott 55/487 Primary Examiner-Duane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-D. C. Butler [57] ABSTRACT This invention consists of an inverted L-shaped flexible tube having its upper and horizontally disposed end suitably secured to the flame arrestor on the carburetor of the internal combustion engine in a boat. The lower and vertically disposed end of the aforesaid flexible tube being clamped to structure having a tubular screen suitably secured on the top of a flotation ring that is located in the bilge of the aforesaid boat.

2 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures VENTILATOR FOR ENGINES OF SMALL BOATS This invention relates to both ventilators and to small motor powered boats and the like; more particularly, to small boats having enclosed internal combustion engines.

One of the major causes of fire on small boats that are powered with internal combustion engines is the lack of proper ventilation in the engine compartment where the engines often draw air from a spark-laden atmosphere.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a ventilator for engines of small boats and the like that will eliminate the danger of explosion or fire from gasoline leakage or spillage from the carburetor of the engine.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ventilator for engines of small boats that can easily be installed in nearly any existing small boat in a minimum of time and with a minimum of effort by nearly anyone having even a limited knowledge of the art and possessing a minimum number of tools.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a ventilator for engines of small boats, the ventilator having a minimum number of easily obtained parts that can usually be replaced from the stock of nearly any hardware store or marine supply house.

Other and further objects and advantages of this invention will no doubt appear to those experienced in the art upon the reading of this specification and its appended claims and upon the reading of the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of this invention in its entirety.

FIG. 2 is an exploded pictorial view of the supporting structure of the lower end of this invention.

In the two views of the accompanying drawing, like parts of the invention are indicated by like reference numbers. The reference number 5 indicates this invention in its entirety.

Directing ones attention now to the drawing it will be seen that this invention consists of a piece of flexible metal tube 6 bent-into the basic shape of an inverted letter L. The upper and horizontally disposed end of the aforesaid flexible metal tube 6 terminates in the outer end of a carburator adapter and flame arrestor 7 that is clamped or otherwise secured to the inlet of the carburetor of the boat engine which is not shown in any of the views of the accompanying drawing.

Continuing to look at the drawing it will be seen that the lower end of the aforesaid flexible tube 6 is secured by a clamp 8- to the hollow vertical portion 9 of the metal flange 10 that is located on the top of the vertically disposed screen housing 11. A tubular screen 12 is located in the aforesaid screen housing 11 which is provided with a plurality of elongated openings 13, as one can best see by looking at FIG. 2 of the accompa- 2 nying drawing.

Still looking at the just-mentioned FIG. 2 of the drawing it will be seen that the-above described metal flange 10, tubular screen 12 and screen housing 11 all rest on and are bolted to a disk 14, which I call a flotation ring, by means of two bolts 15.

From the above description of the construction and assembly of this novel invention of a ventilator for internal combustion engines that are in small boats it will be seen and understood by those experienced in the art that this invention can be adapted to either new engines already having flame arrestors on their carburetors or to the carburetors of existing engines in a boat. Normally, the aforesaid flotation ring and its attached structure will rest on the lowest point of the boats bilge. However, as the name implies, the flotation ring will float the housing if water is present in the bilge, thereby preventing water from being drawn up into the engine. Whenever the engine is running, air and fumes will be drawn from the lower portion of the engine compartment. An average internal combustion engine is capable of providing adequate ventilation to an average engine compartment, particularly at the lower r.p.m. ranges when there would be little or no ventilation resulting from the velocity of the boat. Boat engines are usually set to idle at 1,000 revolutions per minute in order to maintain control of the boat during docking maneuvers.

This invention is subject to any and all changes in detail design and/or modifications one may care to make in so long as the changes and/or modifications all fall within the scope and intent of the appended claims.

What I now claim as new is:

l. A ventilator for engines of small boats, comprising an inverted L-shaped flexible tube having its upper and horizontally disposed end secured to the flame arrestor of the carburetor of the engine in a boat; and the lower end of said tube being secured to a structure having a screen that is located in the bilge of said boat wherein said structure comprises a horizontally disposed metal flange having a hollow vertically disposed portion integrally formed therewith; and the lower end of said tube being secured to the vertically disposed portion of said flange by a clamp; said flange being suitably secured on top of the structure in which said screen is located wherein said last-mentioned structure is in the form of a vertically disposed screen housing having a plurality of elongated openings therein; and said screen housing and its screen being located on top of a flotation ring.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein the said flange is bolted to the said flotation ring by bolts that pass vertically up through not only the said flange and the said flotation ring but also up through the said screen housing and within the confines of the said screen. 

1. A ventilator for engines of small boats, comprising an inverted L-shaped flexible tube having its upper and horizontally disposed end secured to the flame arrestor of the carburetor of the engine in a boat; and the lower end of said tube being secured to a structure having a screen that is located in the bilge of said boat wherein said structure comprises a horizontally disposed metal flange having a hollow vertically disposed portion integrally formed therewith; and the lower end of said tube being secured to the vertically disposed portion of said flange by a clamp; said flange being suitably secured on top of the structure in which said screen is located wherein said last-mentioned structure is in the form of a vertically disposed screen housing having a plurality of elongated openings therein; and said screen housing and its screen being located on top of a flotation ring.
 2. The invention of claim 1, wherein the said flange is bolted to the said flotation ring by bolts that pass vertically up through not only the said flange and the said flotation ring but also up through the said screen housing and within the confines of the said screen. 